Accessibility Links

Shh! Mummy’s busy on Twitter

The comedian Viv Groskop admits she ignores her children in favour of spending quality time with her phone and laptop

Viv Groskop

July 8 2017, 12:01am, The Times

Viv Groskop, mother of three: “Surely our divided attention is a bigger threat to our relationship with our children than any other digital phenomenon.”KATIE WILSON FOR THE TIMES

I came across an interview with a neuroscientist recently whose daughter was asked: “What does your father do?” She said: “He replies to emails.” He was gutted. I know how he feels. When my son was asked at the age of five what I do for a living, he replied: “She goes on her computer.” I’m a writer and a comedian, but as far as my kids are concerned, I’m a professional technology user who gets paid to ignore them.

Maybe I’m an extreme case because I work from home, so there is no delineation between home and office life for me or for my three children, aged six, ten and thirteen. Does the six-year-old think I spend too much time on devices?